Bi-Polar Disorder

[Gromit]

I watched a programme recently on Bi-Polar Disorder. I'm familiar with the disorder but always saw it as being diagnosed in older/adult people. This programme focused on new research being done in the US regarding diagnosing the disorder in very young children - kids around 5 or 6 years old. Some of the children in the documentary had been on really strong medication for 5 years already. I don't know about anyone else here but I'm hearing of more and more friends, their family, acquaintances being diagnosed as Bi-Polar. Please, I'm not minimising the debilitating effects of this disorder, but just as 'Yuppy Flu' was the big buzz disorder some years ago, could the same be happening with Bi-Polar - it's a new 'buzz' disorder?? The only reason why I'm asking this is because it seems that 'suddenly' more and more teenagers, young adults who are struggling to fit into the work place after finishing school are being diagnosed as bi-polar - in the last 2 weeks, 5 of my friends have told me that their young adult children have been diagnosed with bpd whereas in the past, one rarely heard of this. Or could it be that the disorder is just better understood now and easier to diagnose and that the stigma surrounding severe depression is no longer prevalent?

 

[avion]

I think your right there about it being the new 'thing'.

A couple of years ago all children had ADD / ADHD and parents spent a small fortune on medicine.

I like the Southpark version about ADD kids, the parents just need to start disciplining their kids again.

...

 

[Gromit]

I think your right there about it being the new 'thing'.

A couple of years ago all children had ADD / ADHD and parents spent a small fortune on medicine.

I like the Southpark version about ADD kids, the parents just need to start disciplining their kids again.

...

I must admit that when I watched the documentary, my first thought was that these kids simply had no discipline and had not been taught that "No" is a full sentance. When the children in the programme did not get their way, a full tantrum went on - sometimes for hours. But when the older children, 12 or 13 years were interviewed and they talked about wanting to 'end it all' and how hopeless they felt, I really felt for them and thought how I'd react if it were my child suffering like this.

 

[avion]

If I had said anything like that when I was younger that would only have resulted in another severe hiding. lol

Still I'm no medical expert, however your upbringing has a lot if not all to do with how you react with authority and self discipline.

...

 

[CarlS]

Bipolar disorder is a very real condition; however, it is the current fad. It was what we used to call manic-depressive, which is a really good description of the disorder. Simply getting angry and throwing a temper tantrum is not bipolar, it is a tactic of a spoiled brat. A truly bipolar person goes from a mountain top to a deep valley like flipping a switch. It seems to be caused by a chemical imbalance.

Years ago in my university days, we attended an orchestra concert. There was a young man sitting next to us who was really into the concert, clapping, shouting bravo, after every piece. After the intermissoin, he came back; the same orchestra was playing in the same style as before. He sat in his seat sullen. His enthusiams was gone. No clapping; muttered comments of that was awful, get it right, etc. He walked out out about half way through the second part of the performance. His symptoms were classic manic-depressive - a mountain top high in the first half of the concert to a depressive valley in the second half.

My second wife was bipolar. She would go from exuberantly happy to the depths of depression in a matter of seconds. She refused to admit it. Her sister was also bipolar; but she recognized it and sought help. She got it under control was a delightful person. My ex refused to face it. After our divorce, my ex finally did seek help and she has it under control - as long as she takes her meds.

Medication is another problem with those who are bipolar. They get to feeling good and stable and decide they don't need the medication because they are doing fine. They get off of their medication and bottom out. This seems to be characteristic of many bipolar folks.

It seems to me that many folks today who are simply depressed or suffer clinical depression are being labeled as bipolar. There is a vast difference between bipolar disorder and clinical depression. Bipolar seems to be the current fad now that AD has somewhat faded from the scene.

 

[Silli]

Spot on Carl.

One of the other facts is that the high / low cycle is not predictable....can be measured in hours or weeks.
Someone very close to me is bi-polar, and also now has it under control. Modern medication regimes work very well.

 

[Gromit]

Couldn't agree more. When you've lived or intimately know someone with genuine bi-polar disorder, only then can one understand the gravity of the condition. I'm also of the opinion though that currently, as with ADD/ADHA some years ago, suddenly everyone feeling a little blue is bi-polar. What surprised in the documentary is how many really young folk are being diagnosed as bipolar and being prescribed some serious meds. I also see the new diagnosis trend with Aspergers Syndrome - suddenly every child who is not very sociable or not achieving what is expected or has strong ritual habits is suddenly diagnosed with Aspergers. My step-son is genuinely an Aspergers sufferer so this is one condition I can talk about with knowledge. But the bipolar thing, I feel, is being abused and bandied about as an excuse for just about anything at the moment. But living any of these conditions is difficult even during the good episodes.

 

[hemibee]

Carl nailed it. My niece is bi-polar and I've witnessed it first hand.

I also feel it is becoming the "in" thing from the medical field. ADD/ADHD went down this same path to becoming the "in" thing. My oldest son's best friend is ADD/ADHD and I've heard him come home saying his friend was a little late on his meds and was about to drive my son crazy but after he took his meds he was good to go again. I feel a lot of the ADD/ADHD kids were nothing but a bunch of kids that their Barbie and Ken parents didn't have time for while hobnobbing with the "in" crowd so they resorted to doping the kids up instead of letting them be kids.

I see bi-polar going the same way if someone doesn't put their foot down and force the medical profession from taking the easy way out and lumping them all together in one group. It's too easy for them to just dope them all up and then wash their hands of the real care they need.


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[Gromit]

One of the problems in SA with ADD/ADHD is that the school teachers learnt which blocks to tick on the ADD "checklist" so when the teachers were faced a child that did not conform to the box, the checklist came out and bingo! Your child checked all the 'symptoms' of ADD/ADHD. The scary thing was that the doctors relied more on the teachers checklists and opinions than on the parent and a full examination of the child. Ritalin (yes, it does have a place in some instances) became the legal kids 'stabilizer'. 1/2 the kids we knew were on Ritalin or some other med. Most of the problem was incompetent or impatient or maybe just tired teachers. And I'm talking from personal experience here. My son's Gr 1 teacher decided he was ADD because he challenged her instructions and was, still is, a daydreamer. I never went the Ritalin route but went to a few other specialists - the results across the board showed my son as being completely bored with the work - we upped his level of work complexity and the rest has been a happy history.

I worry that the same checklist mentality is taking over again with bipolar disorder - it's just so much easier to pop a pill instead of being a real hands-on parent???

 

[otherwise]

My brother in law lives with a woman with this condition. As she gets older she's getting worse. A couple of years ago she decided I was a heroin dealer and reported me to the police. The local cop who took the report happened to have Friday night beers at my local. When I went down that Friday night the hole bar gave me a cheer as I arrived and then one at a time tried to score, all very funny but if I lived in a big town it could have been bad.

 

[CarlS]

Kevin, that is funny. But you are right; it could have been quite serious.

I agree with Tony and Gromit that bipolar is on its way to be abused just as ADD and ADHD were. Teachers were the main culprits in abusing it for the very reason that Gromit stated. The government school teachers labeled my oldest grandson as ADHD and wanted him on Ritilan. I talked with my daughter and son-in-law, both of whom are savvy anyway, and told them not to even consider Ritilan. They did not and prescribed private school instead. End of ADHD problem. In this country, the teachers union strives for a classroom of of identical zombies rather than letting kids be individuals.

 

[Gromit]

People are so ready to 'pigeon hole' everyone - if life isn't all nicely packaged with each little thing in it's own little box, then there must be a pill to remedy the situation. Am I imagining it or have eating disorders also fallen off the radar or out of fashion. A couple of years ago, there was loads of media attention to anorexia and bulimia - now it's obesity??

 

[CarlS]

It whatever is in vogue and whatever research grants are being given for at the moment.

 

[hemibee]

We had a little trouble with my 13 year old when he was in the 1st & 2nd grade. We kept getting notes that he was disrupting the class. It took a couple of talks with the teachers each year to get the problem corrected but once we made the teachers aware of what they had on their hands, things settled down. They were not challenging him enough. The school work was too easy and he was getting bored. Once they started letting him read other books when he finished his class work things settled down. Now that he is in the 7th grade a couple teachers are using him to help them tutoring others in math and history. I was proud of him when I heard he was responsible for turning one kid's D's and F's into B's. The kid had given up on school but Kyle told him how important grades were. The kid then told him he wanted better grades but just couldn't do it. Kyle taught the kid how to study and now reports the kid comes to class ready to learn and is enjoying learning. What I don't get is how the kid that never studies can teach someone how to study? I have never seen Kyle study and he still brings home straight A's.

To wrap this up, Kyle could have easily been one of the kids on drugs because of the teachers but I knew my son and I saw what the problem was and was able to get thru to the teachers.


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[CarlS]

Tony, your son being earmarked as a problem student is very typical. The outcome by a parent who gets involved with his child is not typical. Kudos to to you.

 

[DaveM]

Well done Tony you guys must be so proud of him

 

[Gromit]

We had a little trouble with my 13 year old when he was in the 1st & 2nd grade. We kept getting notes that he was disrupting the class. It took a couple of talks with the teachers each year to get the problem corrected but once we made the teachers aware of what they had on their hands, things settled down. They were not challenging him enough. The school work was too easy and he was getting bored. Once they started letting him read other books when he finished his class work things settled down. Now that he is in the 7th grade a couple teachers are using him to help them tutoring others in math and history. I was proud of him when I heard he was responsible for turning one kid's D's and F's into B's. The kid had given up on school but Kyle told him how important grades were. The kid then told him he wanted better grades but just couldn't do it. Kyle taught the kid how to study and now reports the kid comes to class ready to learn and is enjoying learning. What I don't get is how the kid that never studies can teach someone how to study? I have never seen Kyle study and he still brings home straight A's.

To wrap this up, Kyle could have easily been one of the kids on drugs because of the teachers but I knew my son and I saw what the problem was and was able to get thru to the teachers.

Great stuff! Big kudos to you and Kyle! Literally the same as with my boy. He'll be 15 in May - as soon as we gave him extra more complex assignments, his class work improved no end. Boredom is deadly for bright kids. Liam never studies either and brings home the grades consistently but has the knack to properly impart knowledge. Sounds like Kyle has the same gift - to understand how to impart knowledge and make it stick vs 'teaching' by rote from a list of curriculum.
Tony, you may find that Kyle is actually a gifted child - have you checked this out?? Whatever you're doing, stay with it!

 

[hemibee]

Well done Tony you guys must be so proud of him

Thanks for the comment Dave.
Yes we are proud of him.

 

[hemibee]

Great stuff! Big kudos to you and Kyle! Literally the same as with my boy. He'll be 15 in May - as soon as we gave him extra more complex assignments, his class work improved no end. Boredom is deadly for bright kids. Liam never studies either and brings home the grades consistently but has the knack to properly impart knowledge. Sounds like Kyle has the same gift - to understand how to impart knowledge and make it stick vs 'teaching' by rote from a list of curriculum.
Tony, you may find that Kyle is actually a gifted child - have you checked this out?? Whatever you're doing, stay with it!

Kyle was invited by Duke University to be one of the 7th graders to take an early SAT exam. We just received the results and trying to see what they all mean. The scary part was how much better he did on the test than a lot of Seniors. The results will be used by the school to help place him in the proper classes. He is currently in Gifted and Talented classes at school for all classes except History. The only reason he is in a regular History class is his band class was at the same time. The teacher gave him a compliment by saying it was great to have a student like Kyle in his class. And Kyle being Kyle didn't let it pass with out a follow up remark, "I'm special, the smartest kid in the dumb History class." Needless to say, I had a good talking to with him.

 

[Gromit]

"I'm special, the smartest kid in the dumb History class." Needless to say, I had a good talking to with him. - I must smile at that! I know we're going off topic here, but there are hundreds of support groups for children who have learning problems, but very, very few for parents of gifted children. As soon as a parent says their child is gifted, the general reaction is "Yeah right! And my child's Einstein" type attitude. Thing is, most people confuse gifted, savant and genius. No child can be a 'genius' - one is only labelled 'genius' when you've invented or proven something great - eg: theory of relativity. Being a savant and gifted are miles apart - a savant has a special talent in 1 specific area, the gifted child generally excels in almost all areas - artistic/creativity & the sciences.
The Schmerenbeck institute for the highly gifted in NY, NY was closed down because the children knew they were 'special' and developed an elitist attitude and looked down on their age peer group amongst other reasons. That's why I smile - it's tough raising these children. You've got to be on your toes with them all the time and make sure you keep them occupied and challenged constantly but also make sure they stay 100% grounded. Many of these children become under-achievers and never finish a task started. These children know they're different. They know they think out of the box, they know they can see through a problem quicker than their peers, they figure out the short-cuts and still ace papers, but the trick for the parent is to make sure they remain 'regular' kids and do all the fun stuff they're should be doing at their age. And that's difficult. So big for keeping him in line!